Workers in Serbia, on average, have the longest working week in Europe, according to data from Eurostat, the statistical agency of the European Union. If the plan of the Minister of Health Danica Grujičić comes true, she will have one of the shortest sick days.
The line ministry proposes amendments to the Law on Health Insurance through which. instead of up to two months, the general practitioner will be able to prescribe sick leave for a maximum of two weeks, after which the patient must appear before the commission. The reason: to reduce sick leave abuses.
In a country where workers had to work in diapers in order not to lose their jobs, and in a company that gave cars to the Labor Inspectorate and nothing to anyone, the employers are to blame, the workers are to blame, and the ministers and doctors are to blame.
How is it possible that most of them get well right before the end of two months of sick leave, how much the employees could get until now without checking the commission, asked the minister, alluding to abuses.
"Does the minister think that general practitioners fake sick leave?" If she has such information, I would like to hear it," says pulmonologist Dejan Žujović, and he evaluates the minister's statement as her "serious distrust of the integrity of her colleagues."
A slightly more conciliatory attitude comes from the Union of Doctors and Pharmacists. As reported RTS, the Syndicate says that the proposed changes to the law are not bad. They believe that the selected doctors sometimes, out of good intentions towards the patient and his family, extend sick leave longer than is realistically necessary.
"I contacted colleagues who work at the level of primary health care and they are in principle in favor of this change because they think that it might make their work easier in some way." On the other hand, it is possible that there will be a bit more paperwork, that the commissions will be more burdened, so that in that sense it will be more complicated on a broader level," says Dr. Jelena Dobrić, vice president of the Union of Doctors and Pharmacists.
Until now, the employer paid the wage compensation during the first 30 days of sick leave. From the 31st to the 60th, this was done by the state from the funds of the compulsory health insurance. According to the data of RFZO, in 2018, 13,5 million dinars were set aside for compensation, and since the beginning of this year, almost 30 million.
The Medicine of Labor states that the new law comes at the right time. They believe that the most important thing is that the commissions that will decide on the extension of sick leave strictly adhere to the rules. He also talks about the most common problems caused by those who abuse sick leave.
Workers would not agree with this, and they consider the announced changes to the law as repairs.
"It often happens to us that people work seriously ill because they are not allowed to go on sick leave. Or someone might think that there is abuse of sick leave in the notorious Korean Jura," he told the portal “Times” President of the Association of Patients of Serbia, Savo Pilipović.
Employers and unions are on opposite sides. The Union of Employers welcomes such a proposal because they believe that it will put an end to "fake sick leave", while the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions (ASNS) says that the state is "solving a solved problem" and that there are nowhere near as many sick days as before.
Honorary President of the Union of Employers Nebojsa Atanacković for Biznis.rs points out that it is difficult enough to organize work even with the "usual" five percent of workers on sick leave, but that any organization of work becomes an impossible mission when that number rises to about 25 percent during the season of agricultural work or vacations.
On the other hand, the president of the Association of Free and Independent Trade Unions (ASNS) Ranka Savić evaluates in favor "Danas" assesses the minister's announcement as a scandalous statement and a bad move, which is exclusively to the detriment of the workers.
"I would be very happy if someone from the Ministry came up with a proposal that is in favor of the workers." The mentioned statement is scandalous for several reasons. The workers are being accused, without any reality, of going on sick leave en masse, which is absolutely not true. Even more, we have a situation where employees less often decide to go on sick leave due to a 35 percent reduction in wages while they are on sick leave. On the other hand, a large number of employers give incentives to all workers who do not go on sick leave for a month. They are not small, they cost from five to 15 thousand dinars. Claiming that we are the leading country in terms of sick leave, based on the data, is theoretically incorrect," says Savić.
BG/RTS/Danas/Biznis.rs
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